Day 1
WARSAW
Upon arrival in Warsaw take an orientation tour of
the city with its beautiful tenement houses, historical
monuments and palaces set along the Royal Route.
You cannot omit the famous Chopin’s Monument, the
Royal Castle overlooking the Vistula River and the Old
Town with lovely Market Square and New Town with
the Monument of Warsaw Rising.
Welcome dinner will be your journey through
traditional Polish cuisine specialities, such as pierogi
(dumplings with different stuffing), Polish duck with
apples and the Warsaw cake “Zygmuntowka”
Day 2
WARSAW
With your expert guide have a full day tour of Jewish
sites, including highlights such as:
Nozyk Synagogue - devastated during the occupation
and renovated after the war, serves all believers
to this very day; Okopowa Jewish Cemetery – the
largest one in Warsaw founded at the beginning of
the 19th century. Many beautiful, richly ornamented,
gravestones display lions, deer, plant life and trees.
Several eminent politicians and people of culture
are buried at this cemetery; Warsaw Ghetto area
– including the site of the bunker on Mila Street, the
place where the chief staff of the Jewish Combat
Organization committed suicide; the monumental
Memorial of the Heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto located
on the square which was once the site of one of the
main bunkers of the Jewish Combat Organization and
the Umschlagplatz.
Day 3
WARSAW – TREBLINKA – TYKOCIN – BIALYSTOK
Morning departure for Bialystok. En route visit to
Treblinka, the site of the former largest extermination
camp, designed exclusively for the murdering of
Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto, the ghettoes of other
cities, as well as for thousands of Jews from nine
other European nations a few dozen miles outside
of Warsaw. Continue to Tykocin, a town famous for
great scholars of the Tora where you will see the family
house of the Zamenhof family and the splendid 17th
century Synagogue. Overnight in Bialystok.
Day 4
BIALYSTOK – LUBLIN – MAJDANEK
Morning departure for Lublin, a place where Jewish
community settled in the mid-14th century, and grew
so rapidly that some 200 years later the town had the
third-largest Jewish population in Poland after Krakow
and Lviv. In the mid-18th century Jews formed half of
the city’s inhabitants. Before World War II Lublin was
one of the most important centers of Jewish culture in
Poland. The only Jewish college of higher education in
the country was located here. Former Jewish Quarter
covered the area of today’s surroundings of the
Lublin Castle and Castle Square where we will start
our tour. We will take you to Old Kirkut – the oldest
still existing Jewish cemetery in Poland. You will also
visit New Jewish Cemetery and Synagogue of the
Chevra Nossim. Drive to Majdanek to see the grounds
of the former Nazi camp with the Monument, the
Mausoleum “Road of Homage” and the crematorium
building. Return to Lublin for overnight.
Day 5
LUBLIN – LEZAJSK – RZESZOW
Drive to Rzeszow where we will see the 18th century
New Town Synagogue, now an art gallery and the 17th
century Old Town Synagogue, now the city’s registry
and a center for studies on the history of local Jews.
En route stop in Lezajsk, a famous destination for
thousands of Chassidism who come here to celebrate
the anniversary of the death of Tzadik Elimelech.
Overnight in Rzeszow.
Day 6
RZESZOW – LANCUT – TARNOW – KRAKOW
Morning visit to Lancut where you will see the biggest
and the most beautiful synagogue in Poland built in
1760s. It has retained much of its decoration and has
been opened as a museum. At the same time you
must see one of the most beautiful Polish residences,
the Lancut Castle set in the splendid rose garden.
Continue to Tarnow to visit an old Jewish district and
the Jewish Cemetery that dates from the 17th century
and features about 3000 tombstones. The original
gate to the cemetery is now on display at the United
States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.
Arrival Krakow for overnight.
Day 7
KRAKOW
Tour of Krakow’s Old Town with the Main Market
Square with its magnificent houses and palaces. There
is a Cloth Hall in the middle of the Market Square, built
before 1349 and altered in the 16th century. Another
characteristic element of the architecture on the
Market Square is the magnificent extensive Gothic
Church of Our Lady with its famous wooden altar
created by Wit Stwosz.
Before you will start the tour of Jewish sites we invite
you to a lecture with slides entitled: “Polish Jews
before and after World War II”.
Afterwards, drive to Kazimierz – a former Jewish
district town with its own Market Square, Town Hall
and thriving culture. See a magnificent Gothic Old
Synagogue and the Remuh Synagogue with adjoining
Renaissance cemetery. Visit the newest, renovated
Tempel Synagogue built for progressive Jews,
decorated with stuccoes, paintings and stained glass.
Dinner with klezmer music concert and opporutnity
to taste specialities of typical Jewish cuisine, such as:
kugel, tzimmes and pascha.
Day 8
KRAKOW – AUSCHWITZ – KRAKOW
We invite you to a lecture given by former Director of
the Center for Jewish Culture in Krakow, Mr Robert
Gadek, entitled: “History of Galician Chassidism”,
a movement for religious renewal that had its genesis
on Polish land under the leadership of the legendary
Baal-szem-tov.
Join a field trip to the places connected with Oscar
Schindler, including his factory, now an outstanding
museum to present the history of Krakow Jews before
the WWII and during the war.
Drive to Plaszow death camp where the Nazis relocated
many Jews. Most of the events portrayed in the film
“Schindler’s List” took place there. We will also visit the
moving museum called “Pharmacy under the Eagle”.
It’s located in the Podgorze district of Krakow, the
actual site of Jewish ghetto during Nazi occupation.
The museum tells the story of Tadeusz Pankiewicz,
a Polish pharmacist who chose to remain in the ghetto
for several years, dispensing free medicines to the
suffering Jewish community.
Afterwards, transfer to Oswiecim to see the largest
death factory in the history of humanity. The preserved,
authentic Memorial consists of two parts of the former
concentration camp: Auschwitz I with permanent
exhibition of the Main Camp where you will see Block
11, the Wall of Death and Crematorium I. You can
also see a short documentary movie. In Auschwitz II
-Birkenau with the most important remaining camp
objects: the site of the camp, residential barracks,
the unloading ramp, the ruins of gas chambers and
crematoria II and III.
Drive back to Krakow.
Day 9
KRAKOW – LODZ – WARSAW
Morning departure for Lodz – one of the largest
Jewish centers in Poland until the outbreak of World
War II. Manufacturers of Jewish origin determined
the character of 19th century Lodz. Their presence
is recorded in the history of the city and its industry.
Several large textile mills were in the hands of Jewish
industrialists: the Poznanski, Kohn, Ejtingon, Wislicki
families. There is rich and beautiful architecture from
this period. Its characteristic features are magnificent
Jewish palaces, whose decorations were of fashionable
extravagance. A good place to find out how the
barons of industry lived in Lodz, before World War II, is
the “Ksiezy Mlyn” residence. Jewish contribution to the
Polish culture was immense. The city’s most famous
sons were: Aleksander Tansman, the world famous
composer, the pianist Artur Rubinstein and the poet
Julian Tuwim. Finally, we will visit Jewish cemetery,
the largest Jewish graveyard in Europe. Late afternoon
drive to Warsaw for overnight.
Farewell dinner with the recital of Yiddish songs
performed by the actors of the State Yiddish Theater.
Day 10
WARSAW
A morning visit to the Museum of the History of Polish
Jews that presents the past and present days of Polish
Jews. See the special exhibitions, displays, a wide
range of media, documents, and artifacts, as well as a
documentary movie about the museum.
Afterwards, drive to the airport for your flight back
home.
Krakow and Warsaw
Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania and Ukraine
For independent travellers longing in-depth
exploration we recommend individually tailormade programs with inclusions of special visits
and events that will enrich the experience.
During your stay in Poland you can also combine
it with extension tours to the neighbouring
countries where you will see many Jewish sites
and the remaining evidences of Jewish presence
in these parts of Europe.
Our recommendations in Krakow:
• Tour of Kazimierz district with inside visits
to Remuh Synagogue and cemetery, Old
Synagogue, Tempel Synagogue and Issak
Synagogue
• Tour of Podgorze, the area of the former Krakow
ghetto
• Visit to Galicia Museum where you can see the
exhibition ”Traces of Memory: A Contemporary
Look at the Jewish Past in Poland”
• Tour “In the footsteps of Krakow Jewish artists”
• Tour “In the footsteps of Oscar Schindler”
• Visit to the former concentration camp in
Płaszów
• Meeting with the Righteous Among the Nations
of the World
• Meeting with the Holocaust Survivor
• A full day shtetls tour to discover the charm of
the former Jewish towns
• Tour “Jewish resistance in the Kraków ghetto”
Our recommendations in Warsaw:
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Guided tour of the Museum of the History of
Polish Jews
Tour “The secrets of Okopowa Jewish Cemetery”
Visit to the Jewish Historical Institute that
focuses entirely on the study of the history and
culture of Polish Jews
Attend an unforgettable performance at the
State Yiddish Theater
Meeting at Beit Warszawa – Jewish Cultural
Association
Special tours:
– “Jewish Warsaw”
– “Jewish district and small ghetto”,
– “Warsaw with Irena Sandler”
Meeting the Warsaw Jewish community
Our recommendations in Prague/Czech Republic:
• Sightseeing tour of Jewish district
• Visit to Old Jewish Cemetery, which is the most
remarkable of its kind in Europe
• Visit to Terezin – a former Nazi concentration
camp
Our recommendations in Budapest/Hungary:
• Tour or the former Jewish district
• Visit to Dohány Street Synagogue, the Jewish
Museum, the Holocaust Cemetery, the Raoul
Wallenberg Memorial Park and the Tree of Life
• Visit to the Center of the orthodox Jewish
community, the Kazinczy Street Synagogue
Our recommendations in Vilnius/Lithuania:
• Visit to the Centre for Tolerance established
inside a former Jewish theater
• Visit to the Chabad Lubavitch Centre
– a combined community center and synagogue
engaged in numerous religious projects
• See the Jewish Cemetery and Paneriai Memorial
Museum
Our recommendations in Lviv/Ukraine:
• Tour of Jewish quarter with ruins of the Main
Synagogue and “Golden Rose” Synagogue
• See the monument to the victims of Lviv Ghetto,
streets where Sholom Aleihem used to live,
Jewish Theater and modern Jewish quarter
• See the Progressive Synagogue ruins, Chasidic
school and the Synagogue, Yaniv Jewish
cemetery and Memorial on the spot of the
former Yaniv concentration camp
Day 1
KRAKOW – TARNOW – DEBICA – ROPCZYCE
– RZESZOW
Morning drive to Tarnów where the first Jewish settlers
came during the Middle Ages. See the well preserved
Jewish tenement houses, the Bimah, a podium in the
synagogue, Mikvah, square of the Ghetto Heroes and
Jewish cemetery.
Continue to Rzeszów, with two stops on the way:
in Debica famous for 18th century synagogue and
Ropczyce where you can only see the area of the
cemetery that was utterly destroyed by the Nazis and
all the tombstones were removed. Upon arrival in
Rzeszów dinner and overnight.
Day 2
RZESZOW – RYMANOW – LESKO – SANOK
– DYNOW – RZESZOW
Full day excursion to the nearby towns: Rymanów
– town where you see the second, oldest synagogue
in Podkarpacie region and the cemetery dated from
the 16th century; Lesko - with the old cemetery that
is recognized as one of the most precious necropolis
in Poland and the old synagogue; Sanok – a town that
for many years, before the WWII, Jews constituted
major part of all inhabitants. Nowadays, you can see
the well-preserved synagogue built in 1924, old and
new cemeteries and finally stop in Dynów where Jews
settled in the first half of the 16th century and where
you can see two Jewish cemeteries. Drive back to
Rzeszów.
Day 3
RZESZÓW – ŁANCUT – LEZAJSK
– JAROSŁAW – PRZEMYSL
Morning deparutre for Przemysl. En route stop in
Łancut where you will see one of the most magnificent
Jewish worship buildings in Poland – a synagogue
that represents eastern type of synagogues.
Continue to Lezajsk where Jews came in early 16th
century. Nowadays a special place for all pilgrimages
that come to Chassidic Rabbi Elimelech Lippman’s
grave every year. Next stop in Jarosław, known as a
“national melting-pot” because of three nations living
there for centuries.
Arrival for dinner and overnight in Przemysl.
Day 4
PRZEMYSL – WIELKIE OCZY – CIESZANÓW
– BEŁZEC - ZAMOSC
Morning departure for Wielkie Oczy – one of the largest
Jews community places in this region, where you can
see the synagogue and cemetery. Visit in Cieszanów,
another important place of Jewish presence in
Poland starting from the 17th century, where you can
see ruins of the old synagogue. Continue to Bełzec
– the first of the Nazi extermination camps created
for implementing Operation Reinhard during the
Holocaust. End the day with arrival in Zamosc.
Day 5
ZAMOSC – CHEŁM – WŁODAWA – LUBLIN
In the morning see the Zamosc synagogue, school,
Mikvah and hospital located on the Jewish Street
and a cemetery established outside the town at the
beginning of the 17th century. Drive to Chełm to see
a synagogue from 19th century and cemetery; stop in
Włodawa that became a popular Chassidism center
in the 19th century. Continue to Lublin with stop at
Majdanek, a former Nazi concentration camp, second
one to those in Treblinka and Auschwitz. Here, tens of
thousands of people were shot, gassed with Zyclon B,
and incinerated; most were Jews. The tragic history of
this camp is presented in a museum there.
Day 6
LUBLIN – KAZIMIERZ DOLNY – KRAKOW
Tour of Lublin where Jews settled at the beginning
of the year 1330. The 16th century and the first half
of the 17th century faced the splendor of Lublin and
its Jewish community reached its peak. In the first
half of the 16th century the Lublin community was
the third largest in the Polish Kingdom. After the tour
drive to Kazimierz Dolny, a charming town that once
integrated have a large Jewish community. See the
Jewish cemetery and a synagogue that houses the
Silverware Museum. Continue back to Krakow.
Day 7
KRAKOW
Morning tour of Kazimierz. See the Remuh Synagogue
and Cemetery as well as the splendid Tempel
Synagogue. Departure transfer.
DIVERSITY OF JEWISH HERITAGE
MUSEUM OF THE HISTORY OF POLISH JEWS
Mazurkas Travel is also a specialist in educational
programs in which we combine travelling experience
with in-depth knowledge on history, traditions,
cuisine and culture. We organize lectures led by
professors from Polish universities, meetings with
artists, cuisine chefs and expert in different subjects,
such as: education, economics and politics. We
combine our tours with special events, music festival,
as famous as: Krakow Jewish Culture Festival, Singer
Festival in Warsaw or “Simcha” Jewish Culture Festival
in Wroclaw. We also have the possibility to organize
meetings with Jewish community in main Polish cities
and Jewish organizations.
The Museum will bring visitors into the extraordinary
world created by Polish Jews. The legacy of that world
lives on today - in Poland with the renewal of Jewish
life, and across the globe in all the places where Polish
Jews settled. Conceived as a theater of history, the
exhibition of the museum will bring visitors into the
time and place of the story itself. The exquisite painted
ceiling and timber-framed roof of a 17th-century
wooden synagogue were created with traditional
tools, techniques, and materials.
The vibrancy of Jewish life during the interwar years
will be shown in a multimedia representation of
a street. In each of the eight galleries, visitors will
come into intimate contact with those who lived the
story. This is the history in the first person, thanks to
memoirs and letters, poetry and press clippings, travel
diaries and testimonies.
Visitors will also be welcomed to join a theatrical
performance or for a theater workshop, to learn about
Jewish music or enjoy a concert – from klezmer music,
which draws on deeply-rooted Eastern European
traditions, to modern, experimental Jewish music.
You will have a chance to join walks around Jewish
Warsaw. Routes prepared by the museum’s educators
explore the city of today and the city as it once was.
For those fond of active ways of spending their leisure
time, museum will offer bicycle trips to nearby towns
to explore their rich Jewish history.
OUR RECOMMENDATIONS
SPECIAL MEETINGS AND LECTURES
• Meeting with a representative of Jewish
Community in Warsaw
• Meeting and discussion on current Jewish
subjects in Poland at Beit Warszawa organization;
• Shabbat dinner
• Concert of Yiddish songs performed by actors of
the State Jewish Theater
• Lecture “The History of Polish Jews before and
after the WWII”
• Visit to Oscar Schindler Factory and meeting
with Righteous Among the Nations;
• Workshops that cover topics relating to Jewish
tradition, culture and religion. They can tailor
presentations to the specific educational needs
of given groups as well as arrange meetings with
Krakow’s rabbi
• Visit to the International Center for Education
about Auschwitz and the Holocaust that does
educational work aimed at both Poles and
those in other nations. There you can see a
number of special exhibitions and get in-depth
knowledge about the history of Auschwitz and
the Holocaust
• Meeting with Golda Tencer, the leading actress
and singer of a State Yiddish Theater as well as
the organiser of the “Singer’s Warsaw Festival”
held in the famous Prozna Street
SPECIAL EVENTS AT THE MUSEUM:
• Lecture: “Famous Warsaw Jews: Korczak, Singer,
Ida Kaminska, Szpilman, Edelman, Anielewicz,”
• Lecture: “The history of Jewish community in
Poland before and after WWII”
• Lecture: “The history of Warsaw Ghetto Rising”
• Lecture: “The history of State Yiddish Theater in
Warsaw”
• Lecture: “Jewish Culture Festivals in Poland
and their influence on Jewish identity in
contemporary life of Poles”
• Cooking lessons of traditional Jewish meals
• Shabbat dinner
• Jewish dancing lessons